“Xi will not be forced into a call,” said Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Washington-based think tank Stimson Center. Only once in recent history, she noted, has a Chinese leader phoned the United States without invitation — after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The trade tensions, if unchecked, could spill into other domains, she warned.

London's FTSE 100 is up 6% after Trump's 90-day suspension of the severest tariffs on imports from most countries trading with the US.

Beijing, which imports far fewer goods from the U.S. than it exports, is considering a range of nontariff measures amid growing trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.

China’s latest move: an additional 50 percent tariff on U.S. goods. Neither side wants to look weak by backing down, but a collapse of their trade ties could have profound consequences.

China has hit back at the US as its stand off against Donald Trump shows now sign of ending while global markets finally rebound after days of volatility.In a humiliating U-turn, the US president made the shocking decision to pause the hefty duties he had just imposed on dozens of countries,

A handful of major Chinese companies like home appliance maker Midea have new badges of honour this year: mandatory clock-off times for staff and bans on after-hours meetings.

President Donald Trump just ignited a direct showdown with the one nation that might be able to beat the United States in a trade war.

Beijing, feeling boxed into a corner by the United States' intensifying tariff assault on China and any country that buys or assembles Chinese goods, is bracing for an economic war of attrition. Washington last week imposed import tariffs of at least 10% on almost the entire world,